OT- Good Quality DA 22 Sixgun

[yooper2]

Hello all,
I just got a job in Alaska that will be starting next summer where I will be out in the woods full time and I intend to carry my 4" 29 on my hip everyday, thing is I haven't done a whole lot of dedicated DA shooting. I've shot that 29 ALOT but I've never focused on the DA aspect being mostly brought up on single actions and I would like for it to be second nature in the event things get nasty with a bear or some other critter. I figure that means I better invest in a 22 revolver to get myself up to speed. While I would love a K-22 I'd really rather not spend that kind of money. Has anybody dealt with Taurus 22s or any other brand of sixgun? Thanks in advance for your opinions,

Eric

[Ysabel Kid]

I have a Taurus Model 94, which is a 9-shot stainless steel DA .22. Just shot it last month with the kids. Real nice little revolver. Loves Federal "Lightnings". This is relatively inexpensive and would be a great kit gun. Here it is in the lower left:

[awp101]

Find a S&W Model 63...

[adirondakjack]

I also have the Taurus pictured. It's a fair gun for cheap money, but, if I found a mechanically good, used smith, I'd choose it instead.

[BenT]

I've been playing with the Taurus and I'm not impressed with the trigger. It seems like the same frame taurus in 38 has a better trigger, don't know why. I'm going to wait till spring and see if Ruger comes out with the SP101 22 that was written about in Guns & Ammo.

[Tycer]

The trigger on a Taurus is nothing like the trigger on a Smith. Nothing.

You can always lie to yourself and say that the money you spend on a Smith 22 will be recouped as soon as you get your trigger control down pat 'cause you'll sell it and make a couple of bucks. Haha, sell it. Right.

You can also get a Crimson Trace Laser Grip for your 29 and practice dry firing with it. It makes a huge difference when you can see that red dot swirl around in a big circle when you first start and how amazingly small you can get it a few thousand trigger pulls later. Batteries last for years in the CTs.

[bsaride]

If you are contemplating it as training for the 44, I would suggest that you use a revolver with the same number of holes in the cylinder.
You don't want that nasty critter coming on you as you are expecting more bangs coming from your only means of defense.

[kimwcook]

Every pistol or revolver is an individual and acts as such. I've never been able to make the jump between a small caliber handgun to a large one by using the smaller one to prepare for the larger one. That make any sense? I find I need to practice with the gun I plan on using. Now, I may use lower power loads for a lot of the practice, but I'll make sure and use the loads I plan on using too. So I become accustomed to the recoil and handling. And, I do that at varying distances. If I were prepping my revolver abilities to go into the Alaska bush I'd use the 29. Learn to stage your DA pull and you'll be able to put all those slugs into a nice little group.

[rock-steady]

I have a Taurus M94B4. I got it mainly to shoot shorts, cb caps and subsonic rounds. The double-action trigger pull is very heavy and after firing a few cylinders, the chambers need to be cleaned or the empties will stick. It is a very accurate little revolver though. For the money, it's OK.

[J Miller]

Every pistol or revolver is an individual and acts as such. I've never been able to make the jump between a small caliber handgun to a large one by using the smaller one to prepare for the larger one. That make any sense? I find I need to practice with the gun I plan on using. Now, I may use lower power loads for a lot of the practice, but I'll make sure and use the loads I plan on using too. So I become accustomed to the recoil and handling. And, I do that at varying distances. If I were prepping my revolver abilities to go into the Alaska bush I'd use the 29. Learn to stage your DA pull and you'll be able to put all those slugs into a nice little group.

I agree 100% with what kimwcook said above. And I will add this. Buy another Mdl 29 because after you practice with the one you have enough to become instinctualy proficient with it in DA you will have worn it out. You'll need another one to carry while the first one is being overhauled. BTDT X 3

Joe

[Hobie]

Using the title as a guide to your wants with the words "good quality" leaping out at me and knowing that you're going to Alaska I'd suggest either a STAINLESS S&W revolver or the Ruger SP101. If you think you won't take the gun to Alaska then you can probably get by with a blue gun and, again, the S&W products lead the way for quality AND reasonable (relatively) price. The SP101 .22 is a bit pricey now that it is semi-collectible. You might even find one of the older Colt DA .22 revolvers at a reasonable price (especially in this economy).

One can get a Taurus, old H&R or Iver Johnson, but the truth is that these aren't of the same quality as those mentioned above.

[madman4570]

You don't need (no other gun?)
First and foremost, use the gun you will be carrying (period)Your M29 and its holster you will use.
You don't need to shoot thousands of rounds?
It's not only how many rounds you shoot,it's the consistency you do it.(I mean how many outings)


I would(if able)at least once a week go to the range and take some .44 specials which you can begin with because of cost(if thats a factor)and run say 5 or 6 simulated attack defense events.(take 5-10 mins after each seperate event ,the 3 shots would be considered 1 event, then let your brain reset back,move around etc.check your target and so on)
You don't have to empty the entire gun(do rapid 3 shot burst)and when I say rapid I mean where you still have control and concentrate on everything involved.(don't get crazy speed drawing as to shoot yourself,but a nice quick weapon removal with trigger finger is to the side and off trigger until gun is pointed at intended target to take the shot)Also try a few shooting just 1 shot?
At the end of those sessions,do 1 cylinder full of .44 Mag rounds(that's 2 events each with 3 rounds fired)concentrate on shot placement.(try mixing up the distance some also,say 100ft/60ft/30ft/15ft etc.)

Even you you do this twice a month at the range and at home just practice with gun empty and not pulling the trigger(course a cylinder of safe caps letting you also do trigger pull would help)put up a bear face pic/poster or whatever and aim for its brain.
If ya cant get a bear pic,put a brady dot on the wall and picture it being the bears brain.

That m29 of yours if kept reasonably clean and lubed should last a lifetime.
Again-----------Practice with the gun/holster you plan to carry and use!

So at worst case(the 2 outings a month/1 a week would be better?) that would be from say from now till next summer aprox.9 months?
That's 30rds of .44specials and 12 rds of .44 mag (A MONTH)
Don't cut corners beyond that to shoot some .22
If that is too much to spend(put it on the card)cause your life is worth it.
You could do more 1 shot events,but best do the at least 3 shoters cause if that bear does ever charge you will have emptied your gun on it and still be pulling the trigger even 30 seconds after.

But back to the frequentcy deal,its just like my baseball coach used to tell me when we practiced on Sunday's?
Son, it's not so much the hour's per day you practice,it's the amount of days you practice
Good Luck and don't get ate!

[Pisgah]

.44 specials in your 29 will give you great live-fire practice -- but don't ignore the value of proper dry firing in learning how to shoot DA.

After the usual drill of MAKING SURE the gun is unloaded, -- and I don't even have ammo in the same room as a gun I am dry firing -- pick a small target -- spot on the wall, playing card, etc. -- and practice dry firing by lining up the sights and stroking the trigger all the way through -- no "staging" -- while concentrating on keeping that front sight right where you want a bullet to go. Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat ad infinitum until that sight stays welded to the right spot every time. Do that enough, and your first live shot will go darned close to where you wanted it.

[madman4570]

.44 specials in your 29 will give you great live-fire practice -- but don't ignore the value of proper dry firing in learning how to shoot DA.

After the usual drill of MAKING SURE the gun is unloaded, -- and I don't even have ammo in the same room as a gun I am dry firing -- pick a small target -- spot on the wall, playing card, etc. -- and practice dry firing by lining up the sights and stroking the trigger all the way through -- no "staging" -- while concentrating on keeping that front sight right where you want a bullet to go. Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat ad infinitum until that sight stays welded to the right spot every time. Do that enough, and your first live shot will go darned close to where you wanted it.

+1

[AJMD429]

I'd get one of these stainless DA .22LR/.22Mag guns (I might get the shorter-barrel version), if I were getting a DA .22 LR these days;

http://charterfirearms.com/products/Cha ... 62240.html

I had an older Charter Arms that wasn't 'convertible' and really liked it - smooth trigger and very accurate & nice balance.

If you don't mind the hassle, paraffin bullets are good practice for use in your big gun.

Another actually 'fun' yet practical option is one of the practice-laser things that has six LED-laser 'cartridges' you shoot at a special target. I used to make riding the exercise-bicycle less boring by shooting with it while I rode.

Personally, I'd just get the Charter Arms, even without the .22 Mag option.

http://www.ableammo.com/catalog/product ... _id=120435
http://centerfiresystems.com/charter-pf-mag.aspx

[MrMurphy]

Snap caps in the .44, limited practice with the .44 and a ton of .22.

The Taurus works, but i'd find a Smith.

[yooper2]

Thank you for all of the replies and opinions! Since I found out I got the job I've been putting about 50 rounds through the 29 a day (I live in the woods and made a shooting range out back*), mostly of the old Skeeter 44 special load so that I'm getting to know that sixgun's trigger well but I want to shoot much more than that hence the 22 sixgun. Even shooting reloads with bullets I cast it's going to get pricey shooting that old 29. Thank you all again,

Eric


*I'm not looking forward to what my landlord says when he sees the 25 and 50 yard berms (and the size of the holes I dug to get the dirt for them) when I move out!

[BigSky56]

Get the inserts to shoot 22lr in your 29 keeps you use to the same pistol and trigger break theres a couple of outfits making them dont have the info infront of me right now I think it would run you 50-60$. danny

[Malamute]

I'm a believer in having a rimfire of the same type action as your centerfire gun. It isnt that the gun has to be exactly the same in all dimensins to be good practie, but that it be close, and the same type. I'm fan of the Smiths, I haven't handled any of the knockoffs that had as good of an action as a Smith, to me the price difference is well worth it (one gunsmith commented that he didnt like working on the Taurus/Rossi's. People wanted an action job to compare with a Smith, then were mad that it cost so much, getting the price to what a Smith would have cost from the start and often still wsnt as good as a factory Smith. Great savings, eh?). You won't regret spending the money on a 4" (mod 18) or 6" K-22 (mod 17), it's a lifetime investment in joy of shooting.

I've shot thousands of rounds thru my 29's and havent worn one out. Replaced a couple hands, and shimmed a cylinder once, but that hardly qualifies as wearing it out. Have shot several hundred thousand rounds thru the K-22 and havent begun to wear it out. Honestly, I'd get tired of loading that many rounds for the 44, even if the components were free.

[Pete44ru]

You can shoot your Model 29 for a small percentage of the cost of buying & shooting any .22 !

Just obtain some cases visually different from your regular & full-power loads, like nickel or .44 Special cases - drill out the flash hole, and shoot wax boolits.

It's pretty simply to melt some wax in a shallow pan to the depth of the boolit length wanted, then cookie-cut/load each freshly-primed case, right from the pan.

.

[Rusty]

Good call on the wax bullets Pete, I was thinking the same thing. Also Speer used to make a plastic bullet combo that had a hard plastic/rubber bullet and a plastic case. All you need is a nail to push the spent primer out. They were fired by the primer only, but they have enough power to go through a garage door. Don't ask.

http://www.speer-bullets.com/products/c ... llets.aspx

[madman4570]

Good call on the wax bullets Pete, I was thinking the same thing. Also Speer used to make a plastic bullet combo that had a hard plastic/rubber bullet and a plastic case. All you need is a nail to push the spent primer out. They were fired by the primer only, but they have enough power to go through a garage door. Don't ask.

http://www.speer-bullets.com/products/c ... llets.aspx

Are you guys kidding me???????? Pete?
See why I like this place? (along with the good people)

That's what I am talking about!